Adult Nurse Practitioner Exam Prep

Answer - D - Von Willebrand disease is a hereditary deficiency of von Willebrand factor (vWF). vWF promotes the platelet adhesion phase of hemostatis, connecting the platelets to the vessel wall. It also functions together with factor VIII, since vWF is required to maintain normal plasma factor VIII levels. Although the disease causes platelet dysfunction, bleeding tendencies are usually mild.

There are 3 types of Von Willebrand’s disease: 1) Type 1, which is a quantitative deficiency; 2) Type 2, which is a qualitative impairment in synthesis; and 3) Type 3, which is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by no detectable vWF.